About two thousand Germani invaders come over the snow-covered hill, already detected by scouts and drawn on by skirmishers. Gratillonius and Salomon on horseback look down their hill towards their three thousand motley foot soldiers, not a single army but a gathering of local brotherhoods. In a block to one side are veterans, Ysan marines with their younger trainees and Frankish allies. The Franks had tried to kill Gratillonius but now they face a common enemy. In the woods are the foresters. Behind the hill are supplies, wagons and animals, unguarded because the rations have been used up.
Arrows and sling pellets fell quite a few Germani, who are trampled underfoot. Then the invaders strike the four-deep Armorican line. When a man in the front falls, the one behind him comes forward. Gratillonius sends the order for the foresters to come out. The Armorican line thins but holds. Untrained reserves come down from behind. The veterans repulse their attackers but, as ordered, do not pursue. The forester wedge pierces the Germanic one. The cavalry charge downhill. Some combat horses bear chamfron and pectoral of leather. Salomon's followers shout, "Salaun!" - the Gallic pronunciation of his name. The Armorican infantry stand or crouch behind windrows of killed and wounded. Gratillonius rallies his men in the names of Christ, Lug, Epona, Cernunnos and Hercules. His banner shows not the Eagle (impolitic) but the Wolf of Rome. He leads the charge.
(Interrupted.)
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
470 visitors to your blog yesterday, UK time? Great! And maybe a similar number today? Terrific! I wish some of them would leave their own comments here. I'm eager to know their views: about PA, SF in general, local affairs, national affairs, etc.!
I think I remember Gratillonius commenting that he had had a similar force of fully trained legionaries of the old school he would have very likely have mopped up the German invaders with little loss to his own force.
Sean
Sean,
Nearly 200 so far today. Numbers go down when I post less. I don't know how readers know. Right now, I am home briefly between one event and the next. At the Comics Day, I bought a prose novel, signed by the author, about a psychic investigator based in Lancaster.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Understood, what you said about numbers going up or down.
Psychic investigator? That makes me think of things like the Rhine Institute or Fr. Herbert Thurston's book GHOSTS AND POLTERGEISTS. These are/were serious investigators of alleged psychic phenomena.
Sean
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